A refrigerator unit is an apparatus that functions to store food at low temperatures. The refrigerator unit may store food in a frozen state or in a refrigerated state according to the types of food to be stored.
The interior of a refrigerator unit is cooled by cold air that is continuously supplied to the refrigerator unit. The cold air is continuously generated through a heat exchanging operation between air and a refrigerant performed in a refrigeration cycle. The cycle includes processes of compression, condensation, expansion, and evaporation that are sequentially performed. The cold air supplied to the interior of the refrigerator unit is evenly distributed due to convection of air, so that the cold air can store food, drink, and other items within the refrigerator unit at desired temperatures.
The main body of a refrigerator unit typically has a rectangular, hexahedral shape which is open at a front surface. The front surface may provide access to a refrigeration compartment and a freezer compartment defined within the body of the refrigerator unit. Further, hinged doors may be fitted to the front side of the refrigerator body in order to selectively open and/or close openings to the refrigeration compartment and the freezer compartment. In addition, the storage space defined inside the refrigeration compartment and the freezer compartment of the refrigerator unit may be provided with a plurality of drawers, shelves, and boxes that are configured for optimally storing various kinds of foods, drinks, and other items.
In the related art, refrigerator units were configured as a top mount type refrigerator in which a freezer compartment is positioned in the upper part of the refrigerator body, and the refrigeration compartment is positioned in the lower part of the refrigerator body. Recently, to enhance user convenience bottom freezer type refrigerator units position the freezer compartment below the refrigeration compartment. In the bottom freezer type refrigerator unit, the more frequently used refrigeration compartment is advantageously positioned in the upper part of the refrigerator body so that a user may conveniently access the refrigeration compartment without bending over at the waist, as previously required by the top mount type refrigerator unit. The less frequently used freezer compartment is positioned in the lower part of the refrigerator body.
However, a bottom freezer type refrigerator unit, in which the freezer compartment is provided in the lower part, may lose its design benefits when a user wants to access the lower freezer compartment more frequently than anticipated, such as to take ice cubes. In a bottom freezer type refrigerator unit, the user would have to bend over at the waist in order to open the freezer compartment door and access the ice cubes.
In order to solve such a problem, bottom type refrigerators may include an ice dispenser for dispensing ice cubes that is provided in a refrigerator compartment door. In this case, the ice dispenser is also placed in the upper part of a bottom freezer type refrigerator, and more specifically is located above the freezer compartment. In this refrigerator unit, an ice making device for making ice cubes may be provided in the refrigeration compartment door, or in the interior of the refrigeration compartment.
For example, in a bottom freezer type refrigerator having an ice making device in the refrigeration compartment door, cold air that has been produced by an evaporator is divided and discharged both into the freezer compartment and into the refrigeration compartment. In particular, cold air that was discharged into the freezer compartment flows to the ice making device via a cold air supply duct arranged in a sidewall of the body of the refrigerator unit, and then freezes water while circulating inside the ice making device. Thereafter, the cold air is discharged from the ice making device into the refrigeration compartment via a cold air restoration duct arranged in the sidewall of the body of the refrigerator unit, so the cold air can reduce the temperature inside the refrigeration compartment.
However, because cold air flows through multiple ducts when making ice cubes using the ice making device in the above-mentioned refrigerator, the efficiency of the refrigerator unit may be lessened. That is, because cold air flows to the ice making device via the cold air supply duct, and then flows from the ice making device to the refrigeration compartment via the cold air restoration duct, the efficiency of supplying cold air for the refrigerator unit may be less than optimum.
Further, frost may be produced in both the cold air supply duct and the cold air restoration duct due to the cold air. When the cold air supply duct and the cold air restoration duct are not sufficiently defrosted, the cold air may not be efficiently supplied to the ice making device and the refrigeration compartment, in part due to blockage. This may cause a problem in that an excessive amount of electricity may be wasted during the operation of the refrigerator unit to overcome the effects of frost.